Abstract
This chapter is an introduction to ethical issues in the treatment provision within secure settings. Most of these ethical issues are not unique to secure hospitals. This chapter covers both generic ethical issues and those more relevant to forensic psychiatry, which arise from the interface between health and the criminal justice system.
The first part of this chapter focuses on ethics, ethics in medicine and ethics in psychiatry. It also discusses generic ethical issues in the assessment and treatment provision in mental health populations.
The second part focuses on specific ethical issues in the treatment provision within secure hospital environments. It explains how the relationship between professionals and patients differs in forensic psychiatry compared to other psychiatry settings and expands on clinical, legal and ethical issues.
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Notes
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W had schizophrenia and was detained in a secure hospital having shot seven people, killing five. Dr. Egdell was asked to prepare a report for a tribunal by his solicitor, but the application was withdrawn as the report noted an interest in guns and homemade bombs which predated his illness. Dr. Egdell sent a copy to the hospital and asked the hospital to send it to the tribunal. W claimed he had breached his confidentiality, but the court found in Dr. Egdell’s favour due to the grave risk of harm.
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Chao, O., Konstandinidou, D., Igoumenou, A. (2020). Forensic Psychiatry and the Mentally Disordered Offender: Ethical Issues in the Treatment Provision within Secure Hospital Environments—Clinical and Legal. In: Igoumenou, A. (eds) Ethical Issues in Clinical Forensic Psychiatry . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37301-6_2
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